The Institute of Caribbean Studies at the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPR-RP) invites the academic community and the general public to the inaugural lecture of the 25th series of Conferencias Caribeñas, “La obra de Bautista Antonelli en la América española: El Primer Plan de Defensas del Caribe” [The Work of Battista Antonelli in Spanish America: The First Defense Plan of the Caribbean] by doctoral candidate Milagros Flores-Román (President of ICOFORT, International Scientific Committee on Fortifications and Military Patrimony). Dr. Josué Caamaño-Dones (Historical Research Center, UPR-RP) will introduce the speaker. The activity will be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2019, 1:00-3:30pm, at Amphitheater Manuel Maldonado Denis, Carmen Rivera de Alvarado Building (CRA 108), School of Social Sciences, UPR-RP.
Description: The theme of European defensive architecture was introduced in the Americas starting from the events of the discovery and subsequent conquest and colonization of the new territories. As Spain established itself in the New World, it needed to ensure the retention of its possessions before its European rivals. Thus, it made the fortifications its first allies. One of the first protection measures was to send two experts to the Spanish Antilles in order to plan the defenses necessary to preserve the state abroad. The result was the Plan for the Defense of the New Territories, after which it fortified those strategic ports to provide protection to fleets loaded with riches from the American territories and to prevent them from falling into the possession of the enemy.
This study shares research advances and reflections on Captain Bautista Antonelli, the King’s Military Engineer, and his leading role in the First Spanish Caribbean Defense Plan in the 16th century. The goal is to help clarify and better understand the legacy of the Antonellis in the fortified Caribbean as a defensive system and to promote their proper conservation, protection, and interpretation.
This presentation will be broadcast LIVE online through the UPR-Rio Piedras web site at http://uprrp.edu.
Comments and suggestions on this presentation will be very welcome at iec.ics@upr.edu.
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[Photo above: San Pedro de la Roca Fortress in Cuba.]
Repeating Islands 